This weekend's tides on Cape Cod remind me of the myriad of conditions that have to come together to make a great sight fishing day.

Wind, sun, tide, fish mood and bait, and external factors like work and commitments with friends and family.

For example, Friday is supposed to be sunny but only after a predicted morning fog, rainy thru the weekend. The tide rises early with a dawn low, before the sun is in it's prime angle. Fish are well into their ultra-picky summer feeding patterns, so it's going to be a challenging weekend and one should blind cast a lot if they hope to hook up.

I would most likely go explore the backside beaches since the outer rips have been packed full of big bass, commercial season disrupted them, and fish tend to come into the inlets as the summer progresses.

If anyone remembers the morning I shut the nay-sayers up at Big Girl Bar by taking several Forum anglers there - we actually landed 5 stripers over 40" from the beach between dawn and 8:45am at Chatham Inlet. The tide, time of year was just as it will be this weekend.

So sight fishing or not, there are many opportunities that are out there for those who care to uncover them this weekend.

boatdrinks

08-16-2012, 08:06 AM

The fish off of the new cut have been really difficult to get to eat but they're there. I think the commercial fleet has just hit them so hard